A Chinese tourist and a Philippine worker have been rescued nearly two months after they were abducted from a Malaysian dive resort, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said.
The two women — Gao Huayun (高華贇), 29, from China and Marcy Dayawan, 40, from the Philippines — were kidnapped from the Singamata Reef Resort in Sabah state on Borneo Island on April 2 in a late-night raid by gunmen and taken to the southern Philippines.
The gunmen are suspected members of Philippine Islamist group Abu Sayyaf, which was also implicated in the killing of Taiwanese Hsu Li-min (許立民) and kidnapping of his female companion, Chang An-wei (張安薇), from Pom Pom Island in November last year, as well as the abduction of 21 people from Sipadan Island in 2000.
Najib said the women were brought back to Malaysia after being rescued, adding that no ransom had been paid to secure their release.
“Success due to cooperation of Malaysia and Philippines security forces,” Najib said on Twitter late on Friday, adding that Malaysia would help Gao return home “as soon as possible.”
Najib is in China on a five-day visit aimed at boosting bilateral ties.
Another Chinese national, a 34-year-old fish farm manager, was kidnapped early last month by gunmen along the same coastline.
China-Malaysia relations have already been tested over the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 that vanished on March 8 with 239 people aboard — two-thirds of them Chinese.
Chinese relatives of passengers have harshly accused Malaysian authorities of ineptitude and a cover-up.
The plane is believed to have crashed in the southern Indian Ocean, but a massive international search has failed to find any sign of wreckage so far.
Sabah’s eastern coast — known for its pristine beaches and dive sites popular with tourists — has seen a string of violence, including a bloody armed assault last year by Islamic guerillas from the nearby southern Philippines.
The Philippine military has said Abu Sayyaf, a small band of Islamic militants infamous for kidnappings for ransom, are prime suspects in the kidnapping of Gao and Dayawan.
Cruz said that the government planned to file criminal charges against the abductors, but declined to comment further.
He added that authorities were still in negotiations to secure the release of other kidnap victims.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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